"He has no right to say that! That's not his decision!"
Shepard looked at the ambassador with a hint of surprise in her eyes. She had never heard him raise his voice so forcefully to anyone but her, and the fact that he did so in front of the Council had her slightly shocked, and more than slightly amused.
The Asari Councillor, Tevos, raised her head to look at the oversized hologram of the Turian Spectre. "Shepard's admission into the Spectres is not the purpose of this meeting."
"This meeting has no purpose! The humans are wasting your time, Councillor. And mine."
That arrogant bastard, Shepard thought to herself as she stepped forward to give her reply, but she did not get a chance before a calm, but thunderous voice interrupted the proceedings.
"I believe I can help with that."
The whole room went quiet, and all heads turned toward the bottom of the stairs leading up to the Petitioner's Stage. There stood a man dressed in all black attire, a hooded long black coat hanging open over a black armor with silver straps around the midsection, his face hidden under the hood and behind an opaque mask.
The man calmly ascended the stairs, his mask directed toward the giant Spectre hologram as he waved his hand in the direction of the Council.
"Your guards will not be responding to your calls, Councillors. You can stop trying now."
Shepard turned her eyes toward the Council's podium, amused at what she saw. The Asari, Tevos, had a mildly shocked expression on her face as her eyes darted between the man in black and her terminal, but her regal composure never left her. The Salarian, Shepard could not remember his name… Valor? Valern?... whatever, the Salarian just kept blinking. Salarians are hard to read, Shepard had no idea what to make of his facial expressions. Sparatus, the Turian, is much easier to get a read on, particularly for people who have been around dogs. Mandibles flared wide, needle teeth clenched but showing. Anger. Rage, even.
"Who are you to intrude on official Council proceedings?! This hearing is closed to the public!" Sparatus spat out with a poorly concealed growl.
Looking back at the intruder, Shepard saw him stop near the top of the stairs and lower his chin slightly. A mildly threatening posture. She narrowed her eyes, instinct guiding her hand to her pistol.
"Morso lingua, Sparatus…"
Huh? Looking back at the Turian, Shepard noticed his mandibles quiver, his mouth close and his eyes widen. Like a dog scolded by its owner, she thought as she raised an eyebrow. 'Bite your tongue', the man had said, if she remembered her Latin. Sparatus had clearly understood it, somehow. Whether that was a reflection of the Turian Councillor's erudition, or of the aura of authority this mysterious man had about him, she was not sure. But she was certainly leaning toward the latter.
…
I looked Sparatus right in the eyes as I told the proud torin to shut up in the only way he would actually listen. You could always trust that man to be predictably arrogant. It came in handy at times, particularly when you want to establish your power in a hurry. Morso lingua. Bite your tongue. Sparatus had probably only heard that phrase once before in his life, and no doubt he had hoped never to hear it again. I grinned, knowing that he would not speak against me again this day.
Alright, back to business. Transfer the files, C.
[They have them.]
I resumed my walk and took position between the Alliance representatives and the Council. Classic posturing. I had highly trained marines at my back who did not know who I was. They could have restrained me at any time. All that was keeping them from doing so was how I held myself, radiating authority, hardly acknowledging their presence.
That is Shepard standing right there. I did not want to ignore Shepard. Had I not an important role to act out, I might have turned around right there and asked the legend for an autograph. Maybe later.
"Councillors, on your terminals you will find documents and footage proving Saren Arterius is, in fact, responsible for the attack on Eden Prime, and is unlawfully in command of an army of Geth. It is all verifiable."
As the Councillors fiddle about with their terminals, I glance up to see Saren glaring daggers at me and grin at his confused and, frankly, infuriated expression.
C, make sure he cannot cut the connection yet. I want him to see this. All of it.
[I have locked the sockets on both ends, he will need to physically destroy the terminal on his end to close the channel.]
Thank you, old friend.
"This is… irrefutible evidence. I…" Valern was the first to compose himself. Naturally. He leaves his statement hanging as he turns his head to face his fellow councillors. He nods. A second later, Tevos does the same. Sparatus seems to still be half frozen in shock, but eventually comes to his senses and nods furiously.
"In light of this evidence…" Tevos begins, before I cut her off by raising my hand with my palm facing her. A somewhat rude gesture to Asari, when done at a distance, but she knows who I am. I am never at a distance.
"Before you continue, Councillor, I should tell you there is still one more piece of evidence to put forth. A witness testimony."
Valern interrupts, "With this evidence, that is hardly necessary, and regardless the testimony of one traumatised dock worker is hardly compelling proof."
He actually got his line in. I grin under my mask as I think about what comes next.
"My eye witness may, in fact, be traumatised, but he is hardly a dock worker. Spectre?"
…
"TRAITOR!"
Ow. Shepard winced at the loud, flanged shout from right behind her. A taloned hand was placed on her left shoulder, and she turned around. Her jaw hit the floor as her gaze fell upon the last person she thought she would ever see again.
"Spectre Kryik?!" Sparatus gasped out in shock.
"BETRAYER!" Nihlus cried again, his talons leaving Shepard's shoulder as he pointed one directly at the target for his rage. His mentor and friend. Saren Arterius. Despite her confusion at the situation, Shepard could feel her blood begin to boil in empathy with the betrayed – no, the dead! – Spectre standing before her. Alive.
"How are you alive?! I saw your dead body!" The words left her mouth before she could even think to stop herself.
Nihlus paid her no heed, his focus still fully on the hologram in the corner of the room.
"I found you at the spaceport," Nihlus began, "You claimed to have been sent there by the Council. I knew it was a lie. I knew you would try to kill me. I made it easy for you, turned my back on you…"
Nihlus sneered as he finished, "And you shot me in the back."
Saren was looking straight at Nihlus, shock and confusion evident in his expression. It was almost as if he was trying to look through him, through the illusion, through the lie. He could not. Shepard saw his expression change slowly as he moved his gaze back to the man in black.
"The Broker sends his regards, Arterius."
At his words, Saren twists his face into a furious sneer. He then pulled his gun out of his holster and fired multiple times in his direction, his hologram corrupting and cutting out. He shot out his terminal. That's one way to end a conversation.
"You can put your gun down now, Commander. I do not believe holographic bullets can hurt me, but I thank you for your concern."
Shepard turned back toward the unnamed man, seeing that his mask was facing directly toward her. He pointed to her arms… Oh shit. She had not even noticed that she had pulled out her gun and pointed it at Saren on reflex when he pulled his. She quickly collapsed her Stinger pistol and put it back on her hip, a faint blush on her face. The man tilted his head to the right slightly and nodded, as he turned back around to face the Council. Nihlus walked up to stand beside him.
"Councillors, you may consider that an excerpt from my official mission report. Saren is a traitor. A mad man. He must be stripped of his position."
The three councillors looked at each other and gave a nod. Tevos spoke up first, "In light of this…" She looked down at the masked man and, with a small grin – a grin! – asked, "May we give our verdict now, Sir?"
"You may." The man responded with what Shepard thought was a hint of amusement to his thundering voice, but he betrayed nothing of the sort in his body language.
Tevos gave the man a smile before composing herself again and continuing, "In light of this abundance of evidence, the Council has no choice but to strip Saren Arterius of his position within the Special Tactics and Reconnaissance branch. The former agent is henceforth considered a fugitive from justice. All efforts will be made to bring him in to answer for his crimes."
A push to her shoulder made Shepard stumble a bit as the Ambassador pushed his way to the front.
"The Alliance wishes to join the fleet to go after Saren!" He almost shouts, as he points a finger up toward the Council. Aww, damn it, I should have tripped him…
The Asari Councillor holds her hand up to interrupt Udina, "We will not be sending a fleet."
"Saren is a rogue agent on the run for his life," Sparatus interjects, "He no longer has the rights or resources of a Spectre. The Council has stripped him of his position."
"That is not good enough! You know he's hiding somewhere in the Traverse, send your fleet in!" Udina's response was as quick as it was forceful.
"Silentium est Aureum, Donnell Udina. A fleet cannot track down one man."
There it is again! Shepard saw Udina practically deflate right in front of her, in response to the man's magic Latin words. Who the hell is this guy?!
Nihlus speaks up, "My friend is correct. There is, however, an alternative approach." He turns toward the Council again, "Councillors, I am prepared to give my final observation report regarding the Commander."
Shepard raised her eyebrows in surprise as she looked at the undead Turian.
He continued, "Commander Alina Shepard, N7 designation Alliance Marine. Extremely capable. Inspires discipline and skill with impeccable leadership qualities. She handled the unexpected situation at Eden Prime flawlessly and, after reviewing some of her previous missions, I have concluded to fully support her induction into the Special Tactics and Reconnaissance branch."
Her jaw hit the floor so hard she was sure it would bruise later.
Sparatus dismissively waved his talons through the air, "This is hardly the time for…"
"Sparatus." Sparatus stops. "This is precisely the time." As this man, this mystery, this… force of nature spoke, Sparatus snapped his mouth shut.
The Turian opened his mouth again slightly as if to say something, but immediately slammed it shut again, eyes wide open. Is that shock or fear?
"Spectre Kryik, your report is noted. And I believe you have the right idea." Tevos looked away from Nihlus to her fellow Councillors, and they all nodded in turn before she turned back. Looking straight into Shepard's eyes, she spoke again.
"Commander Shepard. Step forward."
…
It's strange how things turn out. Ten years of planning and preparation, and the opening act could hardly have gone any better. Nihlus is alive. Saren has lost his Spectre status. Shepard has become a Spectre, and has been given the mission to hunt down Saren. All the key pieces of the puzzle have fallen into place, all that is left is to tie up a few loose ends.
Notify our… assets, to meet me at Doctor Michel's clinic. You know where it is. We have one final guest to pick up, and a bit of a pest problem to deal with.
[Message sent.]
Location on Vakarian?
[Garrus Vakarian is heading toward the wards in his squad car. Estimated time to arrival at the clinic in 10 minutes. Fist's men will arrive two minutes before then.]
Thank you, C. Keep an eye on the situation, will you? I will probably be a bit late…
"Who the hell are you?"
I turn around toward the voice of Alina Shepard, Hero of Elysium, orphan survivor of Mindoir, and for the first time today I find myself at a loss for words.
"Uhm…"
Shepard raises an eyebrow in response to the sound I made, and before I could recover and actually say something… she practically falls over laughing.
Oh boy.
…
Author's notes:
First of all, all rights to Mass Effect related stuff and things are the property of BioWare/EA.
With that out of the way...
I hope you enjoyed chapter 2, or the first chapter with any real story to it. Novel-style writing isn't really my strong suit, if I'm honest, so I hope that it isn't terrible at least. 157 views, 13 favourites and 22 follows so far on just that first tiny bit of prologue, I did not expect that! Thank you to those of you who have subscribed, and feel free to leave a review with any feedback, criticism, anything. I would love to hear it! I am most used to writing collaboratively, bouncing ideas off others, so any constructive feedback will be very much appreciated indeed.
And yes, I know, 2100 words is a rather short chapter...